
Class ir^Mi^ 
Book. ^' ^t 0"1— 
GoEyiiglitl^?— Il2^^ 

COPyRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE 

Ghost Story 

By 

BOOTH 
TARKINGTON 




Stewart Kidd 

LITTLE THEATRE PLAYS 
Edited by 

GRACE ADAMS 



Stewart Kidd Little Theatre Plays 

Edited by Grace Adams 

The Stewart Kidd Little Theatre Plays are 
designed to meet two definite demands. The first 
is that of the many Little Theatres 'for plays of 
actual dramatic distinction and of artistic impor- 
tance. The second is that of the general public 
for plays of true literary value. 

The Series is under the direct supervision of 
Miss Adams, who has selected and edited the 
plays to meet the particular requirements here 
instanced. The price of the plays has been made 
unusually low in the effort to bring them within 
the reach of everyone. Each play is issued in a 
form that is entirely practical for purposes of pro- 
duction. At the same time the books are artistic 
and attractive in appearance. They are by no 
means merely acting versicms. 

Bound in art paper, each foc. 



TITLES 



No. I. THE GHOST STORY 
by Booth Tarkington 

No. 1. SOUNDING BRASS 

by Edward Hale Bierstadt 

No. 3. A FAN AND TWO CANDLESTICKS 
by Mary MacMillan 

Others in preparation 



No. 1 
STEWART KIDD LITTLE THEATRE PLAYS 

Edited by Grace Adams 






THE GHOST STORY 



The Ghost Story 



A One-Act Play for Persons of 
No Qreat Age 



By 
BOOTH TARKINGTON 



STEWART ft KIDD 




CINCINNATI U. S. A. 



CINCINNATI 

STEWART KIDD COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 



-s J' 



>.s 



COPYRIGHT, I92Z 

STEWART KIDD COMPANY 




All rights reserved 



/ 



The professional stage rights of this play are reserved by the Author. 
The amateur stage rights are held by The Ladies Home Journal. For 
permission to produce the play applications should be made by pro- 
fessional producers to Mr. Booth Tarkington, Indianapolis, Indiana, 
and by amateur producers to the Ladies Home Journal. 



Printed in the United States of America 



The Caxton Press 

i)C!.A674275 

MftV2572 



1 



/" 



THE P^SONS 

George, an .earnest young gentleman of 22. 
ANNAy\iyrettyy young girlj(f^20. 

Mary 'U(>^^Jx / 

Grace j- Three girls of-jgJbr 20. 

Lennie J 

Tom 

Floyd ^^ 

Lynn I Fo^^ youths of about the same, 

Fred J . ., 

Housemaid. /^/(^-^A^^^""^ 



Note. — Upon the program it should be mentioned that the 
curtain will be lowered for a moment during the progress of the 
play to denote a lapse of about half an hour. 



THE GHOST STORY 

The rise of the curtain discloses a comfortable and 
pleasant livirig-room of commonplace type. It is 
early evening; a clock on the mantelpiece marks 
the time as twenty minutes after seven; the lamps 
are lit. At a piano is seated a pretty girl of 
twenty; she plays dance music gayly for a few 
moments; then abruptly her theme becomes senti- 
mental and she plays a love song^ singing bits of 
it to herself^ while her expression becomes tender 
and wistful. 

An electric bell is heard, and upon this sound she 
stops singing and playing at once; her look is 
alert. She considers the room thoughtfully^ then 
goes to a chair beside a little table, picks up a 
small leather-bound book, sits and pretends to 
read with dreamy absorption. The77, behind her, 
across the room, a door is opened, offering a 
glimpse of a hallway, where a nervous and earnest 
young gentleman of twenty-two is hastily conclud- 
ing the removal of his heavy overcoat and gloves, 
with the connivance of a housemaid. He comes 
into the living-room immediately. With an air of 
complete surprise the girl looks up from her pre- 
tended reading. 

THE GIRL 

Why, George — {She rises.) 
GEORGE {as the housemaid closes the door) 
Anna, I came early because — 
7 



THE GHOST STORY 



ANNA {as they shake hands and sit) 

I'm so flattered. I didn't dream you'd do more 
than just call me up to say good-by. 

GEORGE 

You didn't think I'd come jnyself? 

ANNA 

Why, no. I didn't think you'd have time; you 
have to make good-by calls on all your aunts 
and married sisters and cousins, don't you? 
I'm really very much flattered. 

GEORGE 

I came early, as soon as I could choke down 
dinner and run, because — well, I wanted to 
talk to you alone for a few minutes for a novelty. 
I thought maybe just this once I could get 
here before the rest of 'em pile in. 

ANNA 

"The rest of 'em?" I don't know that any of 
'em will "pile in" this evening, George. 

GEORGE 

No, you never do; but they pile in, just the 
same. That's the trouble with you, Anna; 
you're too popular. {She laughs protestingly. 
He goes on earnestly^ Oh, yes, you are. It's 
horrible! 

ANNA 

What nonsense! 

GEORGE 

It's the truth; it's just horrible for a girl to be 
like you. 

ANNA 

Thanks! 

8 



THE GHOST STORY 



GEORGE {emphatically) 

It is. Nobody can ever get within a mile of 
you. And what I hate about it is that girls 
hang around you just as much as the rest of 
us do. 

ANNA {demurely) 

You think it's queer that girls like me, 
George ? 

GEORGE 

It isn't "queer," no. {Adds in a burst of con- 
fidence.) But it's been pfetty painful to me 
these holidays. 
ANNA {staring) 

What are you talking about? 

GEORGE 

Well, that's what I came early to tell you. 

ANNA 

You came early to tell me what you're talking 
about? 

GEORGE {a little confused) 

What I mean to sav — listen; it's just this: 
I— I— I— 

ANNA {reminding him) 

You began by saying it's horrible that any- 
body seems able to stand me. 

GEORGE 

It's horrible that I always have to see you in a 
crowd; that's what I mean. If there aren't 
four or five men around you, then there are 
four or five girls; and if there aren't just four 
or five girls, or four or five men, then there are 
four or five of both of 'em! 
9 



THE GHOST STORY 



ANNA 

But look, George. Look under the piano, and 
under the chairs, and under — 

GEORGE 

What for? 

ANNA 

For all those people you said were always 
around me. It's queer, but you do seem to 
me to be the only one here. 

GEORGE 

Yes, just this minute. But you know as well 
as I do that pretty soon the bell will begin 
ringing, and they'll come pouring in. Then 
when they're here they stay and stay and stay 
and — Why, it is horrible! 

ANNA 

Aren't you a funny boy! 

GEORGE 

I wish I could see any fun in it! (He rises and 
paces the floor as he talks.) Why, I believe if 
I'd known it was going to be like this I wouldn't 
have come home for the holidays. You don't 
know how I looked forward to coming home 
and — and seeing you! Why, I've hardly 
thought of anything else, all the fall term! 
ANNA {incredulously) 

You don't mean you thought of it during the 
football season? 

GEORGE 

No. I mean yes. Yes, I was looking forward 
to it even then, too. I kept thinking; "Just 
wait till the Christmas holidays come; then I'll 
get to see a whole lot of Anna. I'll get to 
10 



THE GHOST STORY 



dance with her a lot, to take her to a lot of 
things — maybe, even, I'll get some evenings 
alone with her by the fire, and we'll read some 
poetry or something together." That's what 
I thought! {He laughs bitterly.) And look 
what's happened! You were booked up solid 
for every last little thing a person could hope 
to take you to! Fve never got once clear 
around with you a single time you've danced 
with me — some frenzied bird always cut in — 
and every afternoon or evening I've found you 
at home I've had to sit about seventeen rows 
back and just be audience for the bickering 
that went on. And now it's my last evening; 
my train leaves at nine-fifty-one, and I won't 
see you again till June, after commencement; 
and I know I'm not going to get a chance to 
talk to you five minutes! Some of these birds'll 
be breaking in here any second. That's why 
it's horrible! 

ANNA 

But they haven't broken in yet, George. 

GEORGE 

Yes, but they will! 
ANNA {shyly) 

Well, but if you — if you do like being alone 
with me, why don't you — well, why don't you 
just like it until they do come? 

GEORGE 

"Like it?" You don't seem to realize my train 
is the nine-fifty-one, and I'll have to leave here 
at least half an hour before then; and I'll have 
II 



xHE GHOST STORY 



to say good-by to you with people around, so 
I cant say what I want to! 

ANNA 

But what is it you want to say to me — except 
just good-by? 

GEORGE 

Well, it's something I couldn't say with people 
around. 

ANNA {nervously) 

But — but there aren't any people around now, 
George. 

GEORGE {shaking his head gloomily) 

Oh, there would be, before I could say it! 
I know 'em! 

ANNA {noncommital) 
Well— 

GEORGE {taking a chair near her suddenly) 

Anna, it's just this. I want you to understand 
the position I'm in. I want you to understand 
what I — what I have in mind. {Break ig off 
abruptly if' a tone of abysmal despair.) But 
what's the use? Some of 'em are sure to come 
in. Couldn't you send word you're not at 
home? 

ANNA 

Well, you see, Lennie Cole and Tom Ban- 
nister and Mary and Grace and Fred — 

GEORGE 

I knew it! And you said you didn't know they'd 
be piling in! 

ANNA 

I don't — not precisely, that is. But — but, of 
course it's possible. And they'd certainly 

12 



THE GHOST SIORY 



know it wasn't so if I sent word "not at home," 

and they'd feel hurt. 
GEORGE {despairingly) 

That's it! That's my regular luck with you! 

Isn't there any way to get rid of 'em? 
ANNA {seemingly reproachful) 

They are friends of mine, you know, George. 
GEORGE {despondently) J«'£:>/\'6/^W7r """' 

Pardon me. 

ANNA 

Very well. 

GEORGE 

Listen. What I was saying — 

ANNA {quickly) 
Yes, George? 

GEORGE {speaking hurriedly) 

I wanted to tell you, I have been looking for- 
ward to the holidays because I thought this 
would be the time I'd be — ah — justified, as it 
were, in saying something I — something I had 
in mind to say to you. 

ANNA 

Yes, George? 

GEORGE 

I've had it in my mind to say ever since — well, 
for quite a time — ever since — ever since — 

ANNA 

Is it something about your studies, George? 

GEORGE . 1 

No, it certainjy isn't. It's about — well, I've 
wanted to say it — ah — a long time. 

NNA 

How long? 



THE GHOST STORY 



GEORGE 

Ever since — well, it was that day you wore a 
blue dress. 

ANNA 

What sort of a blue dress? 

GEORGE 

I don't know. It was — it was blue. 

ANNA 

With flounces? And lace on the blouse? 

GEORGE 

I don't know. It was just — sort of blue. 

ANNA 

But I haven't had a blue dress this year. 

GEORGE 

No. It wasn't this year, 

ANNA 

Why, the last time I wore a blue dress was that 
summer at the lake, three years ago. 

GEORGE 

Yes. That was when it was. You wore it the 
day we went canoeing for water lilies. That 
was the day it happened. 

ANNA 

The day what happened? 

GEORGE 

The day you wore the blue dress. 

ANNA 

Oh, yes. 

GEORGE 

Yes. It was then. 



{Both of them are very serious.) 
14 



/ 
THE GHOST sYoRY 



ANNA 

Yes. That one was blue linen, and very simple. 
It was another one that had flounces — with lace 
on the blouse. . _^^ .^^ 

GEORGE " 

Well — ever since then I've thought that some 
day I might feel that I was in a — well, in a 
position to — to justify — ah — what I'd like to 
say. You see, I — well, I was pretty young 
then; we both were, in fact. 

ANNA 

Yes, I suppose we were. 

GEORGE 

Yes. I suppose I hardly realized how young I 
was at the time. Funny, isn't it? I thought I 
was a real grown-up man of the world, and I 
was only nineteen! Looking back on it over 
these years a person sees how much he had 
still to learn! My goodness! When I think 
of all I've been through since then— 

ANNA 

You mean at college? 

GEORGE 

Yes, and here at home, too — like what I've 
been through these holidays, for instance. 

ANNA 

Have you? Why, I thought you looked so 
well, George. 

GEORGE 

I mean not getting near you. You know. 
What I was talking about. 

ANKA 

But that couldn't be very severe, George. 
15 



THE GHOST STORY 



GEORGE . 

Yes, it could, because it ja»s. Anna, my 
father stopped off a day to see me at college 
in October — 

ANNA (': ,; • "H>7£/)L1 

How pice ! 

GEORGE 

We had a pretty serious talk about my future. 

ANNA ^ ^ ^t%\^^^' 

Oh, I'm^sorry it was serious^ George. 

GEORGE 

What I mean — it was business-like. About my 
future in business. 
ANNA {somewhat vaguely) 
Oh, yes. 

GEORGE 

Next June, when I get home, he's going to 
take me right in with him. He thinks — well, 
he thinks I'll get along all right. He — he's 
going to give me a ten-per-cent interest in the 
business, Anna. 

ANNA''' '^A/l///^^-( 

How Jovely! 
GEORGE {swallowing) 

So that's — that's why I said I feel — ah— justified 
— in saying what I want to get a chance to — to 
say to you, x^nna. 

ANNA 

Yes, George.^ 

GEORGE 

What I mean — I mean that's why I'm sure ro 
have sufficient means to — to settle down, a'^ r 
were — and so I — I thought — I — 
i6 



THE GHOST STORY 



ANNA 

Yes, George? 

GEORGE 

You see, that day you wore the blue dress I 
was only nineteen, and I hadn't had this talk 
with my father, because, in fact, I never did 
have this talk with him until just this October 
— as it were — and so — and so — 

ANNA 

Yes, George? 
GEORGE {solemn but increasingly nervous) 

And SO — well, the time has come — the time has 

come — 
ANNA {glancing over her shoulder at the hall door) 

The time has come? Yes, George? 

GEORGE 

The time has come when I — when I want to 
ask you if — if — if — the time has come — it's 
come — it's come — 

ANNA 

Yes, George? 

{The bell rings loudly.) 

GEORGE {leaping to his feet) 

I knew it! I knew they'd come piling in here 
just the instant I — {He turns up-stage^ clasp- 
ing his brow.) Oh, my heavens! I knew it! 

ANNA 

{The door into the hall is opened by the house- 
maid^ and two girls of nineteen or twenty are re- 
vealed^ divesting themselves of outer wraps. They 
17 



THE GHOST STORY 



at once come hurrying gayly down to Anna^ greeting 
her with a jumble of words and laughter^ to which 
she contributes in like manner^ as they exclaim: 
"We just thought we'd frohc over to see you, 
old thing," and "Nothing doing at our house, 
so we thought we'd see if you knew anything." 
Anna responds simultaneously ^ "Just lovely of 
you! We were just hoping you'd take it into 
your heads to drop in. How nice of you!" 
and so forth. The newcomers greet George with 
"Hello, George.") 

GEORGE {responds pessimistically) 

Howdy-do, Mary. Howdy-do, Grace. 

ANNA 

George just dropped in to say good-by. 

MARY 

Gracious.! Hope we're not interfering. 
GEORGE {feebly) , iA/fiZA-'> - 

Oh, no. Not at all! 
ANNA {laughing) 

Why, of CQuxse not! 

{The bell rings.) 

GEORGE 

Oh, my goodness! Here's some more! 
GRACE {reproachfully) 

College EngHsh, George? Don't they teach 

you to say "Here arfi-jnore"? 
GEORGE {with gloomy absent-mindedness) 

Yes, there certainly are! I knew-it! 

{The hall door opens to admit five more lively 
young people: a gij'l and four youths. The girl's 



THE GHOST STORY 



name — // appears during the ensuing greetings — 
is LENNIEy and the young gentlemen are known 
to those present as TOM, FLOYD, LYNN, and 
FRED. They chatter phrases and half sentences 
of greeting all together for a Jew moments, though 
George takes only a pessimistic and fragmentary 
part in the ceremonies; then Lennie shouts louder 
than any of the others and obtains a hearing.) 

LENNIE 

But what are we going to do? We aren't just 
going to sit around and talk, are we? 

MARY 

Let's all go somewhere. 

SEVERAL OF THE OTHERS 

Well, where? Where is there to go? Where 
do you want to go? 

LENNIE 

Well, most anywhere. 

GEORGE ~J^J> JGf^lXf ' ' 

That's a sensible idea. 

MARY 

Where do ^u say to go, Anna? 

ANNA 

I ? Oh, nowhere. I thought I wouldn't go out 
to-night. 

GRACE 

All right, then; we'll stay hergi 

<PHORUS 

Well, why not? Might as well be here as 
r.ny where. Yes, let's take it easy for one 
night, (^nd so forth.) 
19 



THE GHOST STORY 



LENNIE 

Well, what's the matter with our shaking the 
hoof a while? Turn on that phonograph, some- 
body. {She grasps the youth Floyd.) 
cHORus^sr^/)^^f^^.Vj f/VCC^/V/ ■ 

That's it! Come on, then! We can dance 
here's well's anywhere! Tune her up, George! 

{They prepare to dance; Anna is seized upon, 
and^ in the pairing of couples^ the gloomy George 
finds himself the odd person, excluded.) 

CHORUS 

Start the instrument, George! George, yoijlre 
the band! Why don't you tune up, George? 

{George starts the phonograph, which stands in a 
corner of the room. The others dance, chattering. 
George goes to the fireplace and compares his 
watch with the clock on the mantel shelf. Then 
he produces a camper s pocketknife, opens out of 
it a small screwdriver, and returns to the phono- 
graph with an air of determination. Glancing 
over his shoulder and assuring himself that the 
dancers are too busy to observe him, he busily sets 
to work upon the mechanism of the phonograph. 
Meanwhile the others begin to sing loudly and 
gayly the air played by the record, all oblivious 
of George's energetic destructiveness. The record 
falters; then it begins to make peculiar sounds.) 

CHORUS {not pausing in the dance) 

Why, gracious! What's the matter with the 
music? Is that instrument sick? Sounds like 
chpjlera morbus ! {A72d so forth.) 
20 



THE GHOST STORY 



FLOYD {shouting) 

Put on another record, George. What's the 
matter with the thing, anyhow? 

GEORGE {moving hastily away from the phonograph) 
J__^don't know. Is something wrong? 

CHORUS 

Can't you .fii_it? Put on another record ! Do 
^met hing! 

GEORGE 

Well, I'll see - {He puts a hand under the lid of 
the phonograph; there is instantly a clatter ^ and 
the music stops. So do the dancers.) 

CHORUS 

What_is, the matter? W^hy don't you fix it? 
Why don't you — 

GEORGE 

Something seems to be the. matter with it.' 

GRACE 

Well, hurry andiLx-it. 

GEORGE 

I don't believe I — 

LYNN {looking under the lid) 
Well, noi I don't believe you could! {He takes 
from under the lid the metal arm and detached 
sound box of the instrument.) Why, it would 
take Edison himself to put this phonograph 
together again — it's all fallen a^aiit! 

CHORUS 

Goodness! Why, just look _ at it! Well, of all 
the disappointing — Oh, my, how silly .of it! 
{And so forth.) 

21 



THE GHOST STORY 



TOM 

That's all the dancing you'll do to-uight, 
ladies! 

MARY 

But you're rpenfT^ Why don't some of yoj^ 
fix it? 
LYNN {singing) 

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall^ 
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall — 

GRACE 

Oh, jjiQ_Jiush. Why don't you fix it? 
FLOYD and LYNN (singing together) 

All the kings horses and all the king^s men 
Couldnt put Humpty together again! 

{^Pkey-eicecute a few clog steps by way of con- 
-ehtjwn^) 

MARY {sinking into a chair) 
How tiresome! ^ 

FLOYD and LYNN '^ ' 

Thanks, lady! 
GRACE {sitting) 
Well, what are we going to do? 

FRED '-^1-,^ yD-^r././,;j) 

Let's play Button, Button! Who's Got the 

Button? 

LENNiE {sitting) 
Do, hush! 

GEORGE {earnestly) "'■ 

Well, I can't think of any way you could amuse 
yourselves. Strikes me this would be a great 
night for everybody to go home and get some 
sleep. 

22 




THE GHOST STORY 



TOM 

_!_ thought you had to start back to jcoLlege 
tonight. 

GEORGE 

j[jdo. I meant everybody else.. 

TOM 

What's the matter with you, George? I mean 
with your rrjijid. 

GEORGE 

Nothing. I only meant — 

GRACE 

Oh, .40 hush ! Can't anybody think of some- 
thing we could do? 

GEORGE 

No. Not a thing. 

MARY 

We could play charades. 

GEORGE 

Charades? They're terrible. 
GRACE {with a shruf) 
Well, let's just sit around and talk, then. 

GEORGE 

Oh, murder, no! 

ANNA 

Well, what do you want to do, George? 

GEORGE {hastily) 

Well, I want to — {He checks himself.) I was 
just trying to think. It does seem a great 
night to go home and sleep. 

FLOYD {finishing a consultation with Fred) 

Why, of course. We've got enough for two 
tables, with George left over. He has to go 
pretty soon, anyhow, so he needn't play. 
23 



THE GHOST STORY 



GEORGE {uneasily) 

I needn't play what? 
FLOYD {smilingly) 

Bridge. We've got just enough for two tables 

without you. 

CHORUS 

That's it! Of course! Bridge! We'll play 
bridge till midnight. That's splendid! {And 
so forth.) 

{As they chatter they begin to clear two tables for 
cards.) 

GEORGE 

No! For heaven's sake — 

CHORUS 

Anna, where are the cards? Get some counters 
and pencils. Who's going to be my partner? 
Who's going to be mine? 
GEORGE {shouting) 

No! Stop it! My goodness! Don't you ev^er 
get tired of doing the same thing night after 
night? Just because you can't dance you don't 
have to play bridge, do you? Stop it! {He is 
so vehement that he commands their attention; 
they pause in arrested attitudes^ 

FLOYD 

Well, what's your idea? What do you think 
we'll hke better? 
GEORGE {desperately) 

Well, let's — let's — let's — I'll tell you what let's 
do: let's tell ghost stories. 
24 



THE GHOST STORY 



CHORUS {dismally) 

Oh, my! Why, how silly! Of all the foolish — 
{And so forth.) 

{They turn to the tables again.) 

GEORGE 

Wait! I'll tell you a ghost story. I'll show 
you if it's silly or not! I'll tell you a ghost story 
that the first time it was told in college every- 
body got so nervous that — well, some of 'em 
couldn't stand it. 

FRED 

What did they do? 

GEORGE 

Well, they — they got so nervous they — they — 
FLOYD {skeptically) 

Had to go right home to bed, did they? 

GEORGE 

Well, never mind. Let's see what you do. 

MARY 

I'd like to hear the ghost story that would 
make me nervous! 

ANNA 

Let's see if he can. Shall we all sit down, 
George ? 

GEORGE 

Yes; all of you please sit down. {They take 
chairs^ smiling to one another and whispering 
skeptically as he goes on.) And we don't want 
so much light; just this lamp'll do. I'll make 
it dimmer. {He ties his handkerchief about the 
bulb of a lamp on a table.) The way to feel a 
story like this is to think about it almost in 
25 



THE GHOST STORY 



the dark. {He shuts of the other lights at a 
switch upon the wally leaving only the vague illu- 
mination of the dimmed lamp on the table.) 

CHORUS {incredulous y satirical^ and giggling) 

Goodness, ain't it creepy! Why, George, how 
can you be so dramatic? How turrabill! Oh, 
Georgie, Georgie! {And so forth.) 

GEORGE {assuming a husky voice) 

Listen, I tell you. {He stands by the dimmed 
lamp so that his face is vaguely seen above the 
triangular patch of light made by the lamp shade.) 

FLOYD 

Well, go on. We're listening. 
GEORGE {impressively husky) 

This is a true story. It happened in a house a 
little way out in the country from Wilmington, 
Delaware. 

A SATIRIC VOICE 

\ Wilmington, Delaware? My goodness, how 
fearful! Delaware! 

ANOTHER VOICE 

Give the poor thing a chance. 

GEORGE 

It was just fourteen years ago this winter, and 
the facts are known by pretty near everybody 
in Wilmington. If you ask almost anybody 
from Wilmington about it he'll tell you it's so. 
Well, this house was an old frame house; it 
was long and — and — 

A VOICE 

Rambling. Long and rambling, George. 

GEORGE 

Yes, it is; it's long and rambling. That is, it 
26 




THE GHOST STORY 



was; because after what I'm going to tell you 
happened to it, why, it had to be torn down. 
Of course after that nobody would live in it. 
But fourteen years ago an old man lived there; 
he lived there all alone. After dark nobody 
ever saw a light in that house, and — and nobody 
knew anything about the old man except that 
he used to kill any cat that happened to come 
in his yard. The neighbors watched one night, 
and they heard a cat meowing under a bush, 
and they saw the dim figure of this old man 
creeping and creeping toward the bush. Then 
they heard the cat give a kind of terrible 
scream, and they saw the old man capering 
around and wringing this cat's neck — just like 
a chicken's neck! Now, this old man — 

A girl's voice {impressed) 
It is fairly creepy. 

A YOUNG man's VOICE {also rather impressed) 
Well, go on, George. 

GEORGE 

This old man never went out in the daytime. 
No one ever saw just what he looked like, ex- 
cept that he had long, scraggly white hair, and 
his complexion was a horrible kind of fishy- 
white color. But night after night the neigh- 
bors would see him prowling among the bushes 
and underbrush in the big weedy yard — and 
then they'd hear something give a kind of 
strangling scream, and he'd be wringing some- 
thing's neck like a chicken, in the dark. And 
they kept wondering and wondering, and so 
one night — one. night when everybody was 



THE GHOST STORY 



asleep and the wind was moaning and the sky 
was covered with a thunder cloud — 

{At this pointy while George talks^ the curtain 
descends for a moment to indicate the lapse of 
about half an hour^ during which George is telling 
the greater part of his story. Upon the curtain's 
rising again he is discovered to be continuing^ 
speaking more dramatically as he warms toward 
his climax.) 

GEORGE 

The rapping on the wall was always the same. 
Three times. Just like this. {He raps upon 
the table.) Three times. Like this. Always 
just three times. Like this. 
A girl's voice {nervously) 

See here! I'm beginning not to like this a 
httle bit! 

GEORGE 

Listen, will you? Can't you Usten.-* 
A youth's voice: 

We are listening! 
A girl's voice {at the same time) 

Go on; we're listening. 
, another voice 

What's the matter with you? 
TWO other voices 

Why don't you go ahead? 

GEORGE 

Then listen! On the thirteenth of March, ex- 
actly thirteen years after th-i night the old man 
was killed, some wcV nen were making 




THE GHOST STORY 



pairs to the plumbing in that rickety old house 

where he died. Now, these workmen — 
A girl's voice {interrupting nervously) 

George, did you say these workmen were 

plumbers? 
GEORGE {rather crossly) 

Yes, they were. 

A youth's VOICE 

Why, they had to be plumbers, didn't they? 
He said they were doing something to the 
plumbing. How could they help being plumbers 
if they were there on account of the plumbing? 

ANOTHER VOICE {impatiently) 

Well, who said they weren't? Go ahead, 

GEORGE {rather annoyed) 

It was an old plumber and a young plumber. 

ANOTHER VOICE 

Just two of 'em? 

GEORGE 

Listen! These two plumbers were in the old 
house all alone — all alone in that empty old 
house where the murder — 

A girl's voice {again interrupting nervously) 
But if there were two of 'em how could either 
of 'em have been all alone? I don't — 

GEORGE {impatiently) 

Listen, will you? These two men were working 
at the bathtub where the old man's body — I 
mean his remains — where his remains had been 
found thirteen years before, on the thirteenth 
of March, the same night of the month that 
they were working there now. The only light 
these two plumbers had was the light of a 
29 



THE GHOST STORY 



lantern, and all the rest of the big old house 
was pitch dark. Then all at once these tv.o 
plumbers heard something they thought Vy«,s 
a drop of water — just one drop of water that 
seemed to drip from somewhere. But it had 
a queer sort of sound, and they didn't like it. 
"What was that?" the younger one asked the 
older one. "It sounded like a drop of water 
falling — from somewhere. I guess it was 
water," he said. Well, the older one looked 
around, but he couldn't see anything. "I guess 
it's probably only a leak in the roof, maybe, 
and a drop of rain came through." "Well, but 
how could that be?" the other one said. "There 
iiasn't been any rain for a month." Then, just 
as they were talking, they heard another drop 
lall, and they didn't see where it lit. Then 
another drop fell, and it made a kind of little 
sizzling sound. "What makes it sound hke 
that?" the younger one wanted to know; but 
the older one said he couldn't think what did. 
Then there was another drop — and another — 
and another — and all at once the old workman 
said, "Look, here! What makes our Hght so 
red?" Well, the young one jumped right up. 
"By George! I was just noticing that!" he 
said. "Our light has been getting red!" And 
so, just that second another drop fell, and made 
the sort of sizzling sound they'd noticed — and 
both of 'em jumped round and looked at the 
lantern, because the sound came from there. 
"My goodness!" the younger one said. "Look 
at that lantern chimney!" The drops were 



1 



THE GHOST STORY 



1 riling on the hot lantern chimney; that's what 
^ mde the sizzling sound. And what made the 

light red was the color of the drops that were 

falling on it. The lantern chimney was all red 

with what had been falling on it! 
A girl's voice {protesting nervously) 

Say! 
A youth's voice 

Hush up! Go on with the story. 

ANOTHER girl's VOICE 

This is just awful. I wish you'd turn up the 
light. 

ANOTHER youth's VOICE 

Go on, George. 

GEORGE 

Then, just as another drop fell on the lamp 
chimney, the two plumbers heard a louder 
sound, and it made the flesh creep on their 
spines, because it sounded like a long, strangling 
kind of a wail, and it seemed to come right 
from the floor — the very floor they were stand- 
ing on; it came from right under their feet — 

anna's VOICE {protesting) 

I can't stand this! Honestly, I can't! 

A youth's voice 

Don't be so silly, Anna. You know it's only a 
story. 

ANNA 

I don't care! It's too awful. I wish George'd 
stop! 

GEORGE 

Listen! "What on earth is that.''" one of the 
31 



THE GHOST STORY 



plumbers said. "I never heard any such sound 
as that from a human voice!" 
ANNA {pleading nervously) 
Please stop, George. 

GEORGE 

And then the red drops on the lantern chimney 
trickled so fast they got to be almost a little 
stream, so the red light got dimmer and dimmer, 
and then, right underneath them, down in the 
floor, they heard that long, strangHng kind of 
a wail again. "Oo-oo-oo-oo-ow!" it said. "Oo- 
oo-oo-o w-o w-o w — ' ' 
ANNA {uttering a kind of a wail herself in her ex- 
treme nervousness^ so that the two sounds mingle) 
Oh-oo-oo-oo — 

ANOTHER girl's VOICE 

My goodness! What is that? 
Ja youth's VOICE {alarmed) 
See here! Who's doing that? 

GEORGE 

This wailing went on: "Oo-oo-oo-oo — " 
ANNA {screaming.^ not loudly^ but with convincing^ 
sincerity) 
Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! {She continues) 

ANOTHER girl's VOICE {cXCltcdly) 

What is all this? 
A youth's voice 

See here! Who is doing that? 

{Others exclaim: "My goodness!" "What's the 
trouble here?" and "Let's cut this out!" There 
are sounds of confusion^ chairs are o^erturned^ 
Anna continues to vociferate^ "Oh! Oh! Oh! 
Oh!") 32 



THE GHOST STORY 



GEORGE {determined to reach his climax^ and mak- 
ing himself heard in spite of everything) 
'TU find out who's doing this wailing," the old 
plumber said. "It sounds to me like a cat!" 
And he took his ax and struck right into the 
floor. That brought the most awful scream — 

(// brings subdued screams also from Anna and 
Lennie. Everyone talks at once.) 

ILOYD {commandingly) 

Stop it, George! Turn up that light! Anna's 

got hysterics! 
GEORGE {shouting) 

I got to finish my story, haven't I.^ 

ANOTHER VOICE 

Turn up some lights, will you? 

{A key button is pressed and the stage is alight, 
revealing a confused group, with the girls gathered 
anxiously about Anna. She is in a chair near 
the center and continues to be rather vociferously 
agitated^ 

ANNA 

Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! {She goes on) 

GRACE 

Where's some ammonia! Who's got any am- 
monia? 
FRED {rushing in from another room with a glass of 
water) 
Here! Dab this on her face! 

LENNIE 

Rub her hands! Rub her, Floyd! 



THE GHOST STORY 



{They dab water upon her face with handker- 
chiefs^ while Floyd and Lynn obediently rub her 
hands.) 

ANNA {protesting^ but continuing to be hysterical) 
Don't! Don't splatter me! How could he do 
it with an ax, George? What do you mean, an 
ax — 

GEORGE 

I said — 
ANNA {wildly) 

You said the plumber hit the floor with an ax! 
Where would a plumber get an ax? Plumbers 
don't have axes! 

GEORGE 

Well, this one did! 

ANNA 

Then he couldn't have been a plumber! {Mary 
presses a wet handkerchief upon her lips; Anna 
struggles.) Stop it, Mary! Don't put that 
handkerchief in my mouth! 

MARY 

Yes, dear; it'll do you good. 

ANNA 

It won't! Let go my hands! 

GRACE 

No. Keep on rubbing 'em ! 
{They do.) 

ANNA 

I never saw a plumber with an ax. Oh! Oh! 
Oh! 

34 



THE GHOST STORY 



LENNIE {sternly) 
Hush! Hush! You must hush! 

ANNA 

Oh! Oh! Oh! 

MARY 

We'd better call her mother. 

ANNA {sharply) 
Don't you dare! 

GRACE 

Well, what are we going to do about her? 

ANNA 

I'll be all right. Just let me alone. Oh! Oh! 
Oh! 

GEORGE 

That's it. We ought to let her alone. We 
ought to go home and give her a chance to 
quiet down. She never will if we all stay here 
and keep her excited like this. 

LENNIE 

Well, some of us ought to stay. The rest of 
ou go, and I'll stay with her. 

f . »RGE 

To. You go with the rest, and I'll stay till she 
:;ets quiet. 

i/'-JNIE 

lour Why, you're the one that gave her 
lysterics! ^ 

G ORGE {earnestly) 

Then I ought to be the one to cure her. 

ANNA 

I'm— Oh! Oh! I'll be all right if you'll just 
leave me to myself. 

35 



THE GHOST STORY 



MARY {nervously) 

Let's do go! This room gives me the creeps 
after — 

CHORUS 

Let's go! Anna wants us to. We'd better let 
her alone a while. She says so herself. Come 
on! 

GEORGE 

I'll stay and — 
LENNiE and MARY and grace 
No, you won't! 

GEORGE 

ButI— 

LENNIE 

Why, the very sight of your face'd make her 

worse! You march out of here! 
CHORUS {moving toward the hall door and carrying 

George with them) 

You'll be all right pretty soon, Anna. We'd 

better do as she says. She'll be all right. 
MARY {returning to Anna) 

You're sure you don't want — 

ANNA -^ 

No, no, no! I'll be all right just as soon as I^ 
can be a little quiet by myself. I really will. 
Good night, dear! 

CHORUS 

Good night! Good night, x^nna! See you to- 
morrow, Anna! It's a shame George didn't 
have more sense! George never did have a 
grain of intelligence! Goodnight! Goodnight! ^ 
GEORGE {turning back) 
Anna, I'll— 

36 



THE GHOST STORY 



MARY and LENNIE 

No, you won't. Let her alone. 

{They seize his arms and propel him out into the 
hall. The door is closed, leaving Anna alone. It 
is immediately opened again by George, returning.) 

GEORGE 

Anna, I want to say — 

{Lennie, Grace, Mary, Fred, Tom, Floyd, and 
Lynn instantly seize him and carry him back into 
the hall.) 

CHORUS 

You come back here! Haven't you got any 
sense? George, you ought to be hanged! 
Bring him along, the idiot! 

{They again close the door, and for some mo- 
ments, as they put on their outer wraps, the 
sound of their voices in extremely unfavorable 
comment upon George continues to be heard. 
Then the talk grows fainter as they move away in 
the hall. The outer door is heard to closCy and 
there is silence. Anna at once rises calmly, her 
agitation entirely vanished. She goes to the hall 
door, looks out, then closes the door and goes 
thoughtfully to the fire. She seems to wait. Then, 
as though abandoning an idea, she shrugs her 
shoulders^) 

ANNA 

Oh, well! 

{Humming a tune, she goes to the piano. But 
she does not sit. Standing, she touches a chord 
37 



THE GHOST STORY 



thoughtfully; then shrugs her shoulders again^ 
goes to a table^ picks up the leather-bound book 
she had pretended to read at the opening of the 
play and, sighijjg, walks gloomily to the door and 
opens ity about to leave the room. However, she 
pauses, listening. A sound has reached her ears 
from a window across the room. The curtains 
are drawn, but there is a tapping upon the win- 
dow pane. The taps come in sets of three, well 
defined. She smiles suddenly, a very bright 
smile.) 

ANNA 

Oh, it's a ghost. {She becoynes serious and re- 
turns into the room.) Is it the ghost of the old 
cat murderer? {The tappings continue steadily. 
She goes to the window, pulls back the curtains, 
and reveals a frosty glass, behind which is a 
masculine figure. She interrogates it.) Is it the 
ghost ? 

{The tappings become more emphatic; she opens 
the window^ and George is seen, light snow on 
his hat and shoulders.) 

GEORGE {huskily) 
Anna — 

ANNA 

Yes, George? 

GEORGE 

Are you better? 

ANNA 

Yes, George. 

38 



THE GHOST STORY 



GEORGE 

I sneaked away from 'em. I thought it might 
be best to keep away from the front door if 
any of 'em were looking. Besides, I was 
afraid they might follow me back. Can I 
come in? 

ANNA 

Yes, George. 

{He shakes of the snow and climbs in.) 

GEORGE 

Why, you look all right. Are you.f* 

ANNA {gently) 
Yes, George. 

GEORGE 

I just had to tell you; I never dreamed of 
frightening you. I thought — well, what I 
thought was maybe I could make that story 
so awful they'd get scared and go home. But 
I see I was wrong; the more scared they'd get, 
why, the less they'd want to leave. I was 
doing exactly the wrong thing to make 'em go! 
ANNA {smiling) 
Yes, George. 

GEORGE 

And the only one I really frightened was you! 
That is, unless — unless — well, I wondered — 
You see, I know the tones of your voice pretty 
well — and — and — 

ANNA 

Yes, George.'' 

39 



THE GHOST STORY 



GEORGE 

I wondered — Anna, did you pretend to be 
scared hysterical? 
ANNA {laughing faintly) 
Yes, George. 

GEORGE 

And that's why they went! Anna, did you 

want 'em to go? 
ANNA {looking away) 

Yes, George. 
GEORGE {looking at his watch and the clock) 

I've only got — Anna, I've only got about {he 

swallows) — well, it's a pretty short time. Can 

I— 

ANNA ^ 

Yes, George. {MaH^ 
{She sits.) 

GEORGE {taking off his overcoat) 

Thanks! {He puts the coat and his hat on a 
chair.) Anna, I — well, there's something I 
wanted to say to you. I've wanted to say it 
ever since the day you wore a blue dress. This 
thing I want to say to you — well, I'm afraid 
you'll be surprised when I tell you what it is — 

ANNA {biting her lip) 
Yes, George? 

GEORGE {with increasing nervousness) 

Yes, I'm afraid you will. And I'm — well, I'm 
terribly afraid you — I'm afraid you won't like 
it. Of course I — I know I'm not worthy to 
say it to you, and if you don't like it — and I'm 
almost sure you won't — well, if you don't, I — 
40 



THE GHOST STORY 



I 



{he swallows again) — I'll just have to stand it 
somehow, I guess! Well {he looks at the clock) 
— I've hardly got time to say it — 

ANNA {frownmg) 
Yes, George? 

GEORGE 

I don't know what you'll say! 

ANNA 

Yes, George? 

{His attention seems to be caught uneasily) 

GEORGE 

Anna, what's the matter? You just say the 
same thing over and over. 

ANNA 

Yes, George. 
GEORGE {bewildered) 

I don't understand. You see I came here to- 
night — to — to — to say to you that I — to ask 
you — to ask you — 

ANNA 

Yes, George? 

GEORGE 

I — I — I told you about what my father said 
to me — how I'd have a share in the business 
after commencement. So I felt justified in — 
in — in — 
ANNA {with some emphasis) 
Yes, George? 

GEORGE 

And so I — I — I want to ask you — to ask — to 
ask you — 



THE GHOST STORY 



ANNA {whispering it shyly) 
Yes, George? 

GEORGE {swallowing) 

To ask you — could you — could you — Anna, 
could you, could you — {He approaches her^ 
his voice growing louder in his nervousness.) 
Anna, could you, could you — could you — 

{At this instant the heads of Lennie, MarVy Grace ^ 
Floydy Tom^ Lynn^ and Fred^ who have been 
crouching outside below the silly suddenly appear 
in the window^ 

LENNIE, MARY, GRACE, FLOYD, TOM, LYNN, and 

FRED {all together) 
Yes, George! 

{Anna rushes upon the window^ closes it^ and 
pulls the curtains across it.) 

GEORGE {astounded) 

Why, what do they mean? They don't mean I 
— they don't mean you — 

{Anna forms the words "Yes, George" with her 
lipSy then looks shyly down.) 

GEORGE 

Oh! {He swallows.) Oh! 
{His expression^ which has been one of great 
anxiety, alters to a wideni?jg smile 
as the curtain falls.) 



42 



Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays 

Edited by 
FRANK SHAY and PIERRE LOVING 

THIS volume contains FIFTY REPRESENTATIVE ONE-ACT PLAYS 
of the MODERN THEATER, chosen from the dramatic works of con- 
temporary writers all over the world and is the second volume in the 
Stewart Kidd Dramatic Anthologies, the first being European Theories of the 
Drama, by Barrett H. Clark, which has been so enthusiastically received. 

The editors have scrupulously sifted countless plays and have selected the 
best available in English. One-half the plays have never before been pub- 
lished in book form; thirty-one are no longer available in any other edition. 
The work satisfies a long-felt want for a handy collection of the choicest 
plays produced by the art theaters all over the world. It is a complete reper- 
tory for a little theater, a volume for the study of the modern drama, a rep- 
resentative collection of the worlds best short plays. 

CONTENTS 



AUSTRIA 

Schnitzler (Arthur) — Literature 
BELGIUM 

Maeterlinck (Maurice) — The Intruder 
BOLIVIA 

More (Federico) — Interlude 
DENMARK 

Wied (Gustave) — Autumn Fires 
FRANCE 

Ancey (George) — M. Lamblin 

Porto- Riche (Georges) — Francoise's Luck 
GERMANY 

Ettinger (Karl) — Altruism 

von Hofmannsthal (Hugo) — Madonna Dia- 
nora 

Wedekind (Frank) — The Tenor 
GREAT BRITAIN 

Bennett (Arnold) — A Good Woman 

Calderon (George) — The Little Stone House 

Cannan (Gilbert) — Mary's Wedding 

Dowson (Ernest) — The Pierrot of the Min- 
ute. 

Ellis (Mrs. Havelock) — The Subjection 
of Kezia 

Hankin (St. John) — The Constant Lover 
INDIA 

Mukerji (Dhan Gopal) — The Judgment of 
Indra 
IRELAND 

Gregory (Lady) — The Workhouse Ward 
HOLLAND 

Speenhof! (J. H.) — Louise 
HUNGARY 

Biro (Lajos) — The Grandmother 
ITALY 

Giocosa (Giuseppe) — The Rights of the Soul 
RUSSIA 

Andreyev (Leonid) — Love of One's Neigh- 
bor 

TchekofI (Anton) — The Boor 



SPAIN 

Benevente (Jacinto) — His Widow's Hus- 
band 
Quinteros (Serafina and Joaquin Alverez) 
— A Sunny Morning 

SWEDEN 

Strindberg (August) — The Creditor 

UNITED STATES 

Beach (Lewis) — Brothers 
Cowan (Sada) — In the Morgue 
Crocker (Bosworth) — The Baby Carriage 
Cronyn (George W.) — A Death in Fever 

Flat 
Davies (Mary Carolyn) — The Slave with 

Two Faces 
Day (Frederick L.) — The Slump 
Flanner (Hildegard) — Mansions 
Glaspell (Susan)— Trifles 
Gerstenberg (Alice) — The Pot Boiler 
Helburn (Theresa) — Enter the Hero 
Hudson (Holland) — The Shepherd in the 

Distance 
Kemp (Harry) — Boccaccio's Untold Tale 
Langner (Lawrence) — Another Way Out 
MacMillan (Mary) — The Shadowed Star 
Millay (Edna St. Vincent) — Aria da Capo 
Moeller (Philip) — Helena's Husband 
O'Neill (Eugene)— He 
Stevens (Thomas Wood) — The Nursery 

Maid of Heaven 
Stevens (Wallace) — Three Travelers Watch 

a Sunrise 
Tompkins (Frank G.) — Sham 
Walker (Stuart) — The Medicine Show 
Wellman (Rita)— For All Time 
Wilde (Percival) — The Finger of God 

YIDDISH 

Ash (Sholom) — Night 

Pinski (David) — Forgotten Souls 



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Stewart Kidd Plays 

The PROVINCETOWN PLAYS 

Edited by GEORGE CRAM COOK and FRANK SHAY 
With a foreword by HUTCH IN HAPGOOD 

Containing the ten best plays produced by the Province- 
town Players, which are: 

"SUPPRESSED DESIRES", George Cram Cook and Susan Glaspell. 

"ARIA DA CAPO ", Edna St. Vincent Millay. 

"COCAINE ", Pendleton King. 

"NIGHT ", James Oppenheim. 

"ENEMIES", Hutchin Hapgood and Neith Boyce. 

"THE ANGEL INTRUDES", Floyd Dell. 

"BOUND EAST FOR CARDIFF", Eugene O'Neill. 

"THE WIDOWS VEIL", Alice Rostetter. 

"STRING OF THE SAMISEN". Rita Wellman. 

"NOT SMART". Wilbur D. Steele. 

Every author, with one exception, has a book or more to his credit. 
Several are at the top of their profession. 

Rita Wellman, a Saturday Evening Post star, has had two or three 
plays on Broadway, and has a new novel, "The Wings of Desire." 

Cook and Glaspell are well known — he for his novels, and Miss 
Glaswell for novels and plays. 

Edna Millay is one of America's best poets. Steele, according to 
O'Brien, is America's best short-story writer. 

Oppenheim has over a dozen novels, books of poems, and essays to 
his credit. 

O'Neill has a play on Broadway now: "The Emperor Jones." 

Hutch. Hapgood is an author of note. A record of the work of the 
most serious and important of all the new theatre movements in 
America. 

New York Sun: "Tense and vivid little dramas." 

Da I Las News: "Uniform in excellence of workmanship, varied in sub- 
ject matter — the volume is a distinct contribution to American dra- 
matic art. 

i2mo. Net, $2.^0 
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SHORT PLAYS 

By MARY MacMILLAN 



To fill a long-felt want. All have been successfully pre- 
sented. Suitable for Women's Clubs, Girls' Schools, etc. 
While elaborate enough for big presentation, they may be 
given very simply. 

This volume contains ten Plays: 

The Shadowed Star has six women, one boy; may all be taken 
by women. Time, present. Scene, in a tenement Christmas 
Eve. One act, 45 minutes. 

The Ring. Costume play. Time, days of Shakespeare. Three 
women, seven men. Scene, interior. One act, 45 minutes. 

The Rose. One woman, two men. Time, Elizabethan. Scene, 
castle interior. One act, 30 minutes. Song introduced. 

Luck. Four short acts. Time, present. Interior scene. 
Seven women, six men. Comedy. 

Entre' Acte. Costume play. Time, present. Scene, interior. 
Two women, one man. Contains a song. One act. 

A Woman's a Woman for A' That. Time, present. Interior 
scene. One act, 45 minutes. Three women, two men. Comedy. 

A Fan and Two Candlesticks. Costume play, Colonial times. 
Scene, interior. Two men, one woman. One act, 20 to 30 
minutes. Written in rhymed couplets. 

A Modern Masque. Time, present. Scene, outdoors. Fan- 
tastic, written in prose and verse. Costume play in one act, 
30 minutes or more. Four women, three men. 

The Futurists. One-act farce, of the first woman's club of the 
early eighties. Interior. Forty-five minutes Eight women. 

The Gate of Wishes. One-act fantasy. Outdoors. Half hour. 
One girl, one man. Singing voices of fairies. 

Handsomely bound and uniform with S. & K. Drajnatic Series. 
i2mo. Cloth, Net, $2.^0; ^4 Turkey Morocco, Net, $8.^0. 

STEWART & KIDD COMPANY 

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I AY 3i334 



MORE SHORT PLAYS 

By MARY MacMILLAN 

Plays that act well may read well. Miss MacMillan's 
Plays are good reading. Nor is literary excellence a detriment 
to dramatic performance. 

This volume contains eight Plays: 

His Second Girl. One-act comedy, just before the Civil War. 
Interior, 45 minutes. Three women, three men. 

Al the Church Door. Fantastic farce, one act, 20 to 30 minutes. 
Interior. Present. Two women, two men. 

Honey. Four short acts. Present, in the southern mountains. 
Same interior cabin scene throughout. Three women, one 
man, two girls. 

The Dress Rehearsal of Hamlet. One-act costume farce. 
Present. Interior. Forty-five minutes. Ten women taking 
men's parts. 

The Pioneers. Five very short acts. 1791 in Middle- West. 
Interior. Four men, five women, five children, five Indians. 

In Mendelesia, Part I. Costume play, Middle Ages. Interior. 
Thirty minutes or more. Four women, one man-servant. 

In Mendelesia, Part II. Modern realism of same plot. One 
act. Present. Interior. Thirty minutes. Four women, one 
maid-servant. 

The Dryad. Fantasy in free verse, one act. Thirty minutes. 
Outdoors. Two women, one man. Present. 

These plays, as well as SHORT PLAYS, have been pre- 
sented by clubs and schools in Boston, New York, Buffalo, 
Detroit, Cleveland, New Orleans, San Francisco, etc., and by 
the Portmanteau Theatre, the Chicago Art Institute Theatre, 
the Denver Little Art Theatre, at Carmel-by-the-Sea in 
California, etc. 

Handsomely bound and uniform with S. 13 K. Dramatic Series. 
i2mo. Cloth. Net, $2.50; ^ Turkey Morocco, Net, $8.^0. 

STEWART & KIDD COMPANY 

Publishers Cincinnati, U. S. A. 



Stewart Kidd Plays 

MASTERPIECES 

OF MODERN SPANISH 

DRAMA 

EDITED, WITH A PREFACE, BY 

BARRETT H. CLARK 

"A volume that will prove of unusual interest to lovers of the 
theatre." — Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 

The collection of plays in this volume has a distinct value, 
representing, as it does, three varied aspects of the dramatic 
genius of Spain — Echegaray, Galdos and Guimera, the Catalon- 
ian Nationalist. 

Two of the plays, the "Duchess of San Quentin"and"Daniela,"" 
have never before been translated. 

Mr. Clark, the editor, who is well-known to all lovers and 
students of the drama, gives, in his prefaces, a concise and illumi- 
nating survey of the drama in Spain, both old and new. 

Each play is preceded by a biographical sketch and a complete 
chronological list of the dramatist's works. 

THE GREAT GALEOTO, a tragedy, by Jose Echegaray, 
translated by Eleanor Bontecou (presented to the American public 
by Wm. Faversham, under the title "The World and his Wife") 

"an instance of Echegaray's melodramatic and essentially 

Spanish genius." 

DANIELA, a tragic drama, by Angel Guimera, translated by 
John Garrett Underbill. "Daniela comes to us with all the force 
of a new sensation, ... .by virtue of the profound and tragic 
poetry of its theme. (It) is of the great order." — The Dial. 

THE DUCHESS OF SAN QUENTIN, a comedy, by 
Benito Perez-Galdos, translated by Philip M. Hayden. "Galdos 
has done a rare bit of character portrayal."— Cleveland Plain 
Dealer. 

"All the plays are essentially raci.-al and as such will deeply 
interest the student of European Drama." — Argonaut. 

iiMO, Silk Cloth, Net $2.50 
Send for Complete Dramatic Catalogue 

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The Truth About the Theater Anonymous $1.25 

British and American Drama of Today 

Barrett H, Clark 2.50 

European Theories of the Drama Barren H.Clark 5.00 

ContemporaryFrenchDramatists Barren H.Clark 2.50 

Four Plays of the Free Theater . . Barren H. Clark 2.50 
The Provincetown Plays 

Geo. Cram Cook Sf Frank Shay, Editors 2.50 

The Two Cromwells Liddell Dc.Lesseline 1.50 

Plays and Ft ayers Walter Prickard Eaton 3.00 

The Antigone of Sophocles 

Prof. Jos. Edward Harry 1.25 

Tbw Changing Drama Archibald Henderson 2.50 

European Dramatists Archibald Henderson 3.00 

George Bernard Shaw; His Life and Works 

Archibald Henderson 7.50 

Short Plays Mary MacMiUan 2.50 

More Short Plays. Mary MacMiUan 2.50 

The Gift Margaret Douglas Rogers 1.00 

Comedies of Words and Other Plays 

Arthur Schnitzler, Translated by Pierre Loving 2.50 
Fifty Contemporary One- Act Plays 

Compiled by Frank Shay Sf Pierre Loving 5.00 
The Best Short Plays, 1920-1921 

Edited by Frank Shay 2.50 

yTEN One- Act Comedies Edited by Frank Shay 2.50 

Lucky Pehr August Strindberg 2.50 

TramlaUd by V<tma Sieanston Howard 

Easter August Strindberg 2.50 

Translates by Vttma Svonston Howard 

The Hamlet Problejm and its Solution 

Emerson Venable 1.50 

Portmanteau Plays Stuart Walker, net 2.50 

More Portmanteau Plays Stuart Walker, net 2.50 

Portmanteau Adaptations Siuart Walker, net 2.50 

Three Plays Stark Young 1.35 

^'Madretta*', "At the Shrine", "Addio". 

Stewart Kidd Modern Flays 
Edited by Frank Shay 

Mansions Hildegarde Planner .50 

The Shepherd in the Distance . . Holland Hudson .50 

Hearts to Mend H. A. Overstreet .50 

Sham Frank G. Tompkins .50 

Sue Who Pass While the Lentils Boil 

Stuart Walker .50 

The Emperor Jones Eugene O'Neill .50 

Sweet and Twenty Fhyd Dell .50 

Two Slatterns and a King 

More tofoUmo Edna St. Vincent MiUay .50 



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